Non-Standard Workers: How Lenders Assess Casual, Shift & FIFO Income

If your weekly pay changes, or you work shifts, rosters, or fly-in fly-out, lenders use different mortgage income assessment methods than standard rules. Here is how they assess each type and how to prepare your payslips.

Casual Workers

• Lenders need casual workers to maintain their job for a minimum of 6 to 12 months before they consider income as dependable
• Payslips need to show regular working hours — any pattern of decreasing or inconsistent hours raises suspicion
• Lenders determine income using the average from all provided documents, not the most profitable workweek
• Casual worker payslip verification needs consecutive payslips — gaps trigger automatic queries
• YTD income tracking is essential because it reveals the complete yearly income pattern beyond recent weeks

Shift Workers

• Base pay is assessed the same as a salaried employee
• Workers receive additional pay based on their schedule including night, weekend, and public holiday shifts
• Different lenders use different methods to assess overtime: some use a 12-month average while others totally exclude it
• Present two years of YTD income data to prove shift-based income stability

FIFO and Remote Workers

• FIFO worker income verification follows similar rules to shift workers
• Each lender evaluates travel, living away from home, and site allowances differently — some treat these as financial obligations while others disregard them
• Separate allowances from main salary in your document submission to help lenders assess mortgage eligibility for allowance income
• BrokerMaite automatically separates base pay from allowances and loading in the income analysis — saving brokers manual reconciliation time

The Three Mistakes That Cost Non-Standard Workers Their Loan

• Submitting only two payslips when 6+ months of history is needed for casual or shift income
• Not documenting that overtime or allowances are ongoing — one page of payslips is not enough evidence
• Applying to a lender whose policy does not credit shift loadings — without checking first